Rourkela: Flood waters of rivers Koel and Brahmani Thursday entered hundreds of houses in suburban areas of the city leaving over thousands of people of various slums stranded.
Dandiapali slum of Vedavyas area was reported to be worst-hit with flood water flowing over 5 ft. This apart, Sardar Basti, Palpal Basti, Nua Basti, Kumbhar Basti of Balughat area, Tumkela, Tentuli Basti, Theteni Basti, Dhobi Basti, Hamirpur of Sector-16 and Luakera of Sector-13 continue to be marooned by flood waters. Fire brigade personnel rescued members of 15 families in Hamirpur.
Both the rivers were in spate after heavy rain at the upper catchment areas in Jharkhand.
More than 500 people of Balughat have been shifted to the primary and upper primary schools of Bidyut Colony. Additional district magistrate Manisha Banerjee, Panposh sub-collector Himanshu Shekhar Behera, Rourkela Municipal Corporation (RMC) deputy commissioner Sushama Bilung along with a medical team stationed at the relief camp and kept vigil on the situation. About 1,200 flood victims were given dry food and cooked food during the day at the camp, sub-collector Behera said, adding, the administration would provide assistance to the people till recession of flood waters.
While the fire brigade and RMC staff have been engaged in the relief and rescue operations, leaves of RMC officials have been cancelled. Members of some political parties and social activists were also seen assisting the administration in the operations.
Water is flowing over 179 metre against the danger mark of 178.42 metre in Brahmani, ADM Banerjee said.
Meanwhile, 11 gates of Mandira dam over river Shankha have been opened. People in other slums were in panic as the water level was rising, a report said. PNN
